


Strange Beasts

by Lumeha



Series: FE Rarepair Week 2017 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: M/M, References to Depression, and, and basically teen!me liked this pairing and I wanted to finally try and write something about them, references to recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:55:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10109696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumeha/pseuds/Lumeha
Summary: - Blessings to fight against a curse ?- Blessings are very strange beasts, and hard to see when we are worn to our bones.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts : Blessed / Curse / Rest  
> I am fighting against my inspiration and I tried to incorporate all of the prompts. This was surprisingly not that hard for these two.  
> Enjoy !

Sitting comfortably under a tree, far enough from the camp to find peace and silence but still close enough in case anyone would need him (but who would ?), Knoll reads the new tome he put his hands on, fingers delicately following the ink, words and sketches full of knowledge he is not sure to want. Shadows of future to come are drawn under his eyes. 

He doesn’t raise his head when Duessel comes to him. The older man sits next to him. For once, he is out of his armor, a rare sight even when they are not waiting for the next fight. He still carries a weapon, years of training and war embedded in his bones, his hand light on the handle. There is concern in his eyes, but Knoll ignores it, tries to ignore it, focusing on the pages. 

\- Are you struggling to sleep ?  
\- This… is not really a surprise, General, Knoll answers, head tilted to the side.

Duessel nods. A long silence stretches between them, far from uncomfortable. Knoll is slowly getting used to it, used to the older man seeking out his presence, even outside the battlefield. It was already… strange to see the general making sure he was not in danger during a fight. It is stranger to see him make sure he is feeling well.

\- The truth feels like a curse. One that drains… everything.  
\- This is not an easy feeling to fight against. I told you, I am no stranger to feeling worn to the bone, Duessel answers. 

Knoll turns a page, nodding slowly, fingers following the curve of a creature drawn with a meticulous love of details. He is not the only one to struggle - he knows that. Hope was hard to find when you had such a weight on your shoulders. Knowing what is coming, feeling the presence of blood and death and suffering always hovering over them, it feels like he is strangling himself over words and pictures of what he saw, learned and experienced.

How Duessel is able to still get up, day after day… 

\- How do you do it ? I told you what I know, you have seen so many fights, and still…

His voice trails into silence, a silence that stretches between them, only punctuated by the sound of turning pages and the low humming of Duessel’s voice, deep in thoughts. It’s (almost) soothing (almost enough to forget - but he wears tiredness and brokenness around him like a blanket, both comforting and suffocating). 

\- It’s in the small blessings, the general finally says. I don’t want to tell you that they make everything right. Because they don’t. But sometimes… It’s in the small things that I find the way I have lost.   
\- Blessings to fight against a curse ?  
\- Blessings are very strange beasts, and hard to see when we are worn to our bones. 

They fall into silence, again. Duessel closes his eyes, appreciates the soft warmth of the day and the calm. They are never far from battle, and he learned to take the moment as it comes. Knoll closes his tome, mind too full of questions to focus properly on the pages, words hard to follow, his eyes going over without understanding the lines. He raises his head to look at the man beside him, a picture of serenity even if he knows that Duessel fights like he does.

\- What are the small blessings, for you ?  
\- Moments like this. It’s also seeing our comrades find new relations and talking about their hope, even though we are fighting. It’s knowing that I still have a purpose, even if I sometimes lose it. It’s seeing you get some peace. 

The mage blinks slowly, at loss for words, and the other man smiles. 

\- You don’t have to find your own blessings quickly. We are both searching for our path, and we are not dead yet. 

Duessel takes his hand, slow and warm, and he shivers under the words. It seems simple, when someone says it like this, so simple. But nothing could be this simple. His train of thoughts must be obvious, because he catches of glimpse of sympathy in the eyes of the general. 

A man stronger than him knows what he is struggling with. A comforting thought, even if it doesn’t convince him that he will ever be strong enough to recover from the tiredness that gnaws at his bones. 

\- And even if you don’t find your blessings and struggle with your path, I am going to help you on the way you have chosen for yourself and protect you during our fights. 

The warmth of a hand, the soothing sound of a voice. The silence, for a time, of the words clawing in his skull. Impressions, fleeting and ephemeral, that will die as soon as the moment is broken, but will leave a mark on his being.

A small smile blooms on his lips.

Blessings are strange beasts indeed.


End file.
